‘Musical intelligence – that’s really what I see.’ Markella is referring to the members of the Sband, the diversely talented music group created by L’Arche Il Chicco, Rome, Italy, where she is volunteering for a year. After a few years teaching children with intellectual disabilities in her native Greece, Markella decided to broaden her experience: coming to L’Arche gave her the chance to work in a new setting with disabled adults.
Opening up new horizons is exactly what the Sband does best: not just for its members with and without intellectual disabilities, but also for the children and teachers in the many city schools that invite them to give a concert. One such teacher is Manuela Urso: ‘we teachers spend our lives raising awareness of children about the value of altruism, helping others, being collaborative, cooperative. But these can remain on a very theoretical level as topics for discussion. Therefore, I wanted the children to learn by living an experience in reality, starting from the concrete.’
Manuela recalls the impact the Sband made on her pupils: writing up the experience afterwards, most of them said at the beginning that they had a little fear. ‘But then it was so spontaneous and natural that they found themselves experiencing a lot of joyful emotions. They made beautiful drawings, and I remember in particular two or three children who wrote really insightful things. This experience will have a lasting impact.’
Loredana, founder of the Sband in early 2000s, underlines the necessity of this mission to schools, ensuring young people can meet and enjoy the diverse talents of adults with an intellectual disability. At school, integration among the pupils works relatively well, thanks in part to the dedicated support staff on hand. However, once a person with an intellectual disability leaves school, they will often find life gets harder: ‘there remains a difficulty in society towards disabled people, an embarrassment, an inability to relate. In my opinion, this is due only to the lack of experience with the disabled person.’
While Loredana is quick to affirm the efforts of all those who work in the field of disability, she clarifies, ‘the world of disability does not enjoy great funding. They do the best they can with the resources that they have, but it requires great energy and great passion to make a difference. Otherwise, disabled people risk finding themselves in a parking lot where there is not much meaning for them.’
Turning this negative stereotype of low expectations on its head is the task that the Sband has set itself. And releasing a person’s true potential is the ideal way to reveal the falseness of the downbeat narrative around disability. All it takes is to ensure each person has the right opportunities, skills and encouragement to express themselves creatively. And this is true, whether or not one has an intellectual disability: each human being, surely, needs people who believe in them, and in their hidden potential.
Judging from the musical talents on display, the Sband is proof that this is a winning formula. One person combining intellectual disability with musical intelligence, is Luca Boldreghini. ‘My role in the Sband is to improvise and also to play congas,’ explains Luca. ‘I decided to join because I really like music…Because music is a part of my life. And also because Antonio asked me to be part of this band. And I accepted from the bottom of my heart.’
Daniele too is proud of his place in the Sband: ‘I like the music. Playing the chimes. And then, not only that. I also play the harmonica. And I also sing. One, two, three. We are ready!’
The Sband’s conductor, Antonio Turano explains how the band uses improvisation to achieve its impact: ‘I started as a rapper, and developed a kind of music therapy through rap. Then I discovered the Argentinian method called Rhythm with Signs. This allows real-time improvised arrangements of the music in the group.’
Antonio has been amazed at what happens when one creates a climate that allows the growth of all individuals: ‘things happen that we could not have imagined, and which challenge us to readjust our expectations of a person. For instance, last year, we invited different members to come forward and conduct the Sband. At our last practice before Christmas, Vittorio stood up. We had never invited him to conduct before precisely because of our limited expectations. So it was a beautiful experience when Vittorio raised his hand to indicate his desire to conduct. That took us completely by surprise. He was the one telling us, ‘look, you have to break this barrier. And he conducted a piece, guiding the entrances, indicating to the different musicians when to play. That was incredible for everyone. Vittorio was leading us, teaching us. That day, he changed forever the way we saw him.’
Antonio insists that growth is never a one-way street: ‘when I manage to leave behind a prejudice, I feel that I myself have grown and given someone space to grow. I don’t believe it’s possible to give someone the chance to grow without growing ourselves.’ Such mutuality is the bedrock of the Sband: ‘each of us has some kind of limit, or has difficulty accessing something, or in expressing ourselves in a certain way. A community is really healthy when it does not create differences because ‘your disability is greater than mine’. Unfortunately, our society has been organised like a game that automatically cuts some people out. In the Sband of Il Chicco, by contrast we all meet on the level. Sometimes, for instance, we all share in the difficulty of recognising a particular hand sign. The Sband is about true participation in a shared community.’
Loredana agrees: ‘improvisation teaches us all to be flexible, to remain ready for the unexpected; whether or not we have a disability, we can each be surprised: Nadia, Luca, Alessia and myself are al equal in this. No-one is more prepared than the other and I find this very inclusive.’
Nadia Notarantonio is another Sband member who relishes its inclusive ambiance. As a singer with a disability, she found herself less than welcome in her local church choir. In the Sband, however, she can fulfil her dreams: ‘we sing together’, she says ‘and we are strong.’
Loredana affirms how the Sband promotes community values: relationship, mutual support, mutual esteem, trust in each other. Each person finds the place that is right for them. This is a place in which they are also asked to grow, to change, to adapt, to try new things, so it is not always a comfort zone. We express ourselves, but in interacting with each other, we learn to limit ourselves and leave space for each other.
Not surprisingly, the growing popularity of the Sband has brought a full programme of concerts, not just in schools but to wider audiences. They recently played at their largest venue to date: the World Jazz Day at the Parco della Musica Auditorium in Rome.
Last word to Loredana: ‘The Sband is about being surprised by the beauty of the other, by the abilities of the other. It is about leaving ajar the door of surprise, of possibility for the other person, so that they can evolve, and show how they are changing in complete beauty.’
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